This invention relates generally to ladder scaffolds, and in particular to a ladder scaffold with a safety mechanism for a worker on the scaffold.
Ladders are well known for use in building construction, painting and repair. For the repairs, maintenance or painting of exterior walls workmen usually stand on the rungs of a ladder propped against the wall. While convenient and easy to use, ladders limit the access of a workman to the work surface. If a ladder is leaning against a wall, a worker standing on the ladder has the ladder as a barrier between himself and the wall. He can reach the wall for only a short distance through or on either side of the ladder.
To overcome the limitation of working from ladders, scaffolds have been developed in the prior art which attach to a pair of ladders. Typically, a ladder scaffold is a flat plank attached to two ladders leaning against a wall. The plank is generally attached to an upper rung of each ladder by means of a ladder jack. See FIG. 1. The scaffold provides an easy way for a worker to substantially expand his coverage of a work surface.
The drawback with using a scaffold, however, is safety. With a ladder, the worker is actually laying against the rungs of a ladder and usually is holding on to one of the ladder rails or rungs with his nonworking hand. While on a scaffold, a worker has nothing to hold onto and relies completely on balance. One mistake or a slight backward misstep from the scaffold plank at a usual working level above the ground can be catastrophic for the worker. This is an especially serious problem for workers who are using high pressure hoses to wash down or sand blast a wall surface, the pressure from the hose tending to push the worker backward and making the worker""s position on the scaffold quite unstable.
The prior art has made various modifications to ladder scaffolds to improve safety. These modifications, however, generally limit the worker""s access to a work surface or limit his mobility on the scaffold.
The present invention""s general purpose is to overcome the difficulties with prior art safety modifications to ladder scaffolds. The present invention provides a worker back support which is laterally and slidably attached to the scaffold. The back support has a belt which is releasably attached about the waist of the worker. The worker can thereby move laterally along the scaffold with his hands free and no obstructions between him and the wall work surface. The belted back support provides the worker with backward support and a safe attachment to the scaffold. In one embodiment of the invention, a high pressure hose used for washing or sand blasting a wall surface may be attached to and braced by the back support, thereby reducing the working pressure on a worker.